Girl students belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities and those from the below poverty line (BPL) families in Kerala’s aided schools will be given free school uniforms.
This scheme under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) now applicable only to government schools would be extended to aided schools, Governor H.R. Bhardwaj told the Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
More than 20 lakh students stand to benefit from this initiative which would cost the government Rs.80 crore. Now about 10 lakh students in standards one to eight in government schools were given free school uniforms under the SSA scheme.
Digital libraries would be set up in all high schools to serve as a backbone for Internet-based learning in schools. This year alone, 418 minority educational institutions had been shortlisted for government financial assistance.
In the next academic year, at least one classroom in every government school would be upgraded to an interactive smart classroom.
Eleven more schools would be started under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan (RMSA) scheme in the next academic year.
The revised curriculum for the higher secondary classes would come into effect from the academic year 2014-15, the Governor said.
The Srinivasa Ramanujam Institute of Basic Sciences would become a reality next week. The government would announce an action plan in the higher education sector to ensure a balance between excellence and equity. As part of this, the government would examine the feasibility of granting autonomy to well-run educational institutions.
During the academic year 2013-14, the government would start new generation courses based on industry requirements and provide encouragement to courses in areas such as nanotechnology in universities. The Kerala State higher Education Council had submitted to the Centre a proposal for setting up a Faculty Training Institute for university and college teachers.
The government would set up an Academic City. All preparatory work for the Kerala Technological University had been completed and the varsity would be established shortly. An off-campus centre of the English and Foreign Languages University would be inaugurated this year itself.
A new International Relations Group had been set up in the government and all universities would set up similar groups. Preparatory work was on for setting up a new Institute of Engineering and Technology.
The Trivandrum Research and Engineering Science Park would be set up at the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram.
